This invention relates to a method and a system for effecting a desired modification in the shape of a pre-existing object to which access is restricted. This invention also relates to an instrument connectable to a computer for providing said computer with electrically encoded data specifying a three-dimensional surface of an object. In addition this invention relates to a device operably connectable to a computer for providing the computer with electrically encoded data specifying a curvilinear contour of an object. More particularly, this invention relates to a dentistry system.
This invention relates further to a method for generating an electronic representation of a three dimensional surface and to a method for providing a computer with electrically encoded data specifying a three-dimensional surface of an object. The invention is also directed to a method for providing a computer with electrically encoded data specifying a curvilinear contour of a movable object and to a method for effecting a dental preparation.
Computerized control of machining operations is a well established technology. It has been applied to the dental field in controlling the preparation of tooth inlays and onlays such as fillings, crowns and bridges. In accordance with the known technique, a computer is provided with electrically encoded information specifying the surfaces of a prepared tooth. The computer then controls the machining, from a blank, for an inlay, crown or other restoration for insertion into or placement onto the already prepared tooth.
Except for a few such advances in the field, dentistry remains in practice very much in the technological state that it assumed decades ago. Although there have been many improvements in materials, techniques and instrumentation have not generally progressed to keep pace with the computer age.